Method of making turbine wheels



Dec, 9, 1947..v s. c. WATSON METHOD OF MAKING TURBINE WHEELS Filed May 18, 1944 Patented Dec. 9, 2 432 1 UNITED STATES PATENT. ;OFFlCE METHOD OF MAKING TURBINE WHEELS Sydney C. Watson, Chicago, 111., assignor to United Specialties Company, Chicago, 111., a

corporation of Delaware 4 Application May 18, 1944, Serial No. 536,063

Claims. (Cl. 29-1588) 1 a i This invention relates to a turbine wheel and one after the other. The steps of formation of particularly to the method of forming it. It has each bucket are, however, the same, whether one for one object to provide a method of forming; is formed at a time or several are formed at a a turbine wheel by stamping-that is to say, by time. the operation of dies-and in particular, one of 5 In the initial forming operation, a punch is its objects is to provide a method of forming moved in the direction of the arrow in Figure 2 by dies two mating or cooperating members and and for each bucket or vane it forms a perfora- .of forming them in such manner that each memtion for and displaces a portion of the member I bet has formed in it a series of members each to form what is,'in effect, one-half of a vaneor of which forms one-half of a vane or bucket. 10 bucket, as indicated at 5. Between each two A further object is to form the members by buckets or vanes a portion 6 remains, and it will the method in question in such manner that be noticed in Figure 2 that between each portion when two are joined together, they produce vanes 5 and its correspo P t 6 1S 8 curved or buckets of a continuous curve, without interfillet-like portion 1. If new two members with ruptions or depressions or irregularities. I vanes h p as h w in F r 2, W b

Other objects-will appear from time to time face to face; the curved fillet-like portions would throughout the specification and claims. form a depression in the center of each bucket.

One application of the method is illustrated in andthis wou d be cto y or e flOW 0 the accompanying drawings, wherein: the fluid which contacts the wheel. The further Figure 1 is a plan view of portion of e steps in the method are to avoid this result. bine rotor after the first punching or forming a After t vanes 0r buckets a been shap d. operation; as shown in Figure 2, another punch is'forced Figure 2 is a sectional view taken at line 2-2 through the member I and each of the Portions of Figure l; 6 is severed and carried downwardly, as shown Figure 3 is a plan view generally similar to '25 in Figure 4, to form a continuation of the mem- Figure 1 showing the rotor after a second punchher 5, and a cut-away portion or slot d is thus ing or forming operation; formed behind each bucket. This cut-awaypor- Figure 4 is a sectional view taken at line 6-4 tion communicates with and in effect forms an of Figure 3; extension of the cut-away portions 4.

Figure 5 is a plan view generally similar to With the parts in'the form shown in Figures 3 Figure 3 and showing the same side as that and 4, it would obviously e p s e setshown in Figure 3, after the final severing operisfactory to try to form a composite rotor by ation; placing two such wheels togetherQ Hence it is Figure 6 is a sectional view taken at 11: 6 B desirable to remove the members 6 so that the of Figure 5; v inner ends or sides of the buckets formed by the Figure 7 is a sectional detail showing two of parts 5 are flush with one face of the member the wheel-forming members in the condition of I. To accomplish this, the portions 6 are cut Figure 5 secured together to form a series of off flush with the lower face of the member I, as complete vanes or buckets' shown in Figure 6. With the parts formed now Like parts are indicated by like characters 40 as they are in Figures 5 and 6, two mating mem; throughout the specification and the drawings. hers I with the rounded buckets-or vanes 5 may In the particular form of the invention shown be placed face to face and they will thus form herewith, the method is carried out upon mema rotor including generally two of the members bers which are designed to he used to form tur- I and a series of completed buckets or vanes will bine rotors. As thus shown, a generally sheetbe formed, each bucket or va e b g fermed y like member I may be given a rounded shape two of the members 5. and since the fillet-like which is defined in a round periphery indicated curve I has been removed by the displacement at 2. If desired, the member may be centrally of the members 6 from the position of Figure 2 perforated to form a perforation indicated at 3. V to the position of Figure 4, and since finally the The forming operation may be carried out to projecting ends of 'the members 6 have been form a plurality of vanesor buckets at a single severed when the parts are put together, each stroke, or the operation may be repeated once pa ref embers 5 join toform a complete vane for each stroke, and thus the several vanes or or bucket without substantial depressions or irbuckets shown in Figures 1 and 2 may have been regularities anywhere within it, formed simultaneously. or may have been formed While the method as illustrated herewith has produced a series of radially spaced vanes or buckets, it is to be understood that the method can be carried out to produce these members whether they are radially positioned or not, and they may of course be of many different shapes and profiles. The steps of the method are not limited, therefore, and the method itself is,not limited to the production of the article exactly as shown herewith. The method will be substan tially the same, also, whether one bucket is formed at a time or whether several are formed, and for many purposes it will be, desirable to punch all of the buckets in a given rotor at the same time,- and the die would then be so made as to have in it suitable parts to carry out simultaneously the forming operation of Figure 2 on every bucket. Similarly, the punch and die which form the operation in Figure 4 would be made to carry out the step, and so all of the buckets in a given rotor and the projecting portion 6 would be severed generally in a single operation by means of a single cutter.

It is to be understood, of course, that the exact details of the dies will depend upon the type of product necessary and desirable. If a great many rotors are to be made, economy would dictate more elaborate dies than would be necessary if only a few rotors are to be made.

Although I have shown an operative form of my invention, it will be recognized that many changes in the form, shape and arrangement of parts can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and my showing is therefore to be taken as, in a sense, diagrammatic.

The initial forming step illustrated. in Figures 1 and 2 may be carried out at a single operation or where the thickness or analysis of the metal or other material make it desirable, this initial forming operation may be carried out in two steps-the first step severing and partially forming th buckets and the second step giving them their final form, This particular first operation,

therefore, need not be carried out in any particular number of steps. One, two or more steps may be used in producing the form of the article as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

The severing and moving operation illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 may be carried out in a single step or in more than one step. With certain metals and other materials the severing operation in which the portion 6 is forced downwardly to the position of Figures 3 and 4 may result in a slight distortion of the memberS. Should that occur one or more of the steps carried out in bringing the article into the position shown in Figures 1 and 2 may be repeated to remove whatever distortion may have been brought about in the shape of the member 5 by the operation which moves the member 6 to the position of Figure 4.

In the forming operations it is ordinarily preferable to hold the disk I between a pressure plate and a die block. These engage and grip the disk before the forming or severing or punching operations take place. When the disk is thus held by the pressure pad and the die block and tightly gripped between them, distortion of the disk is prevented. it is held fiat and the area within which stretching of the metal can occur during the severing and forming operations is limited. For most purposes it is advantageous to carry out the forming method in this manner.

I claim:

l. The method of forming a turbine wheel comprising forming a sheet metal member, forming a cut through said member, bending the metal 4 of said member in the region of said out out of the plane of the member to form on one face thereof an outstanding arcuate vane, forming a second cut through said member adjacent to the base of the vane, bending the metal which remains between the second cut and the base of the vane out of the plane of the member and up from the opposite face thereof to form a vane wall portion in general continuation of the vane wall projecting from said one face of the member, tnen shearing oil flush with said opposite face the metal upset by said second mentioned bending operation, and assembling two such sheet members in back-to-back, contacting relationship, the outstanding vanes or each sheet being in abutting and continuous, arcuate relation with those of the other sheet.

2. The method of forming a turbine wheel comprising forming a sheet metal member, forming a cut through said member, bending the metal of said member in the region of said out out of the plane of the member to form on one face thereof an outstanding vane of generally arcuate cross-section, forming a second cut through said member adjacent to the base of the vane, bending the metal which remains between the second cut and the base of the vane out of the plane of the member and up from the opposite lace thereof to form an arcuate vane wall portion generaliy conforming to the curvature of the vane wall projecting from said one face of one member and shearing arr flush with said opposite face the metal upset by said second mentioned bending operation, and assembling two such sheet members in back-to-back, contacting relationship, the outstanding vanes of each sheet being in abutting and continuous, arcuate relation with those of the other sheet.

} 3. The method of forming a turbine -wheel comprising forming a circular disc of sheet metal, forming a radial cut through said member, bending the metal of said disc in the region of said out out 01' the plane of the member to form on one face thereof an outstanding vane, of generally arcuate cross section, forming a second radial cut through said member adjacent to the base of the vane, bending'the metal of the disc which remains between the second cut and the base of the vane out of the plane of the member and up from the opposite face thereof to form an arcuate vane wall portion conforming generally to the curvature of the vane wall projecting from said one face of the member, then shearing off flush with said opposite face the metal upset by said second mentioned bending operation, and assembling two such sheet members in back-toback, contacting relationship, the outstanding vanes of each sheet being in abutting and continuous, arcuate relation with those of the other sheet.

4. The method of forming a turbine wheel comprising forming a sheet metal member, forming a cut through said member, bendingthe metal cf said member in the region of said out out of the plane of the member'to form on one face thereof an outstanding arcuate vane, forming a second cut through said member adjacent to the base of the vane, bending the metal which remains between the second cut and the base of the vane out of the plane of the member and up from the opposite face thereof to form a vane wall portion in general continuation or the vane wall projecting from said one face of the member, then shearing off flush with said opposite face the metal upset by said second mentioned .7 a of the member, forming a series of cuts through said separating strips, which cuts extend transversely of said stripe at opposite ends thereof intersect said first mentioned cuts, hendinithemetal of said strips between said transverse cuts out of the plane of said and up from the opposite face of the memiger to form arcuate vane wall portions conformingggenerally to the curvature of the vane walls ii'oiecting from the said i the sheared wall portions of the two series of vanes abutting and the vanes of each series cooperating respectively to define a series of buckets having smooth inner and outer surfaces of 5 arcuate contour.

SYDNEY c. WATSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Sheldon June 20, 1944 Btitt May 15, 1928 Smith ......a May 26, 1912 Meyer Aug. 16, 1932 

